Physics of Biology

DNA Nanomachines

In new research, Hao Yan of Arizona State University and his colleagues describe an innovative DNA walker, capable of rapidly traversing a prepared track. [20] Just like any long polymer chain, DNA tends to form knots. Using technology that allows them to stretch DNA molecules and image the behavior of these knots, MIT researchers have discovered, for the first time, the factors that determine whether a knot moves along the strand or "jams" in place. [19] Researchers at Delft University of Technology, in collaboration with colleagues at the Autonomous University of Madrid, have created an artificial DNA blueprint for the replication of DNA in a cell-like structure. [18] An LMU team now reveals the inner workings of a molecular motor made of proteins which packs and unpacks DNA. [17] Chemist Ivan Huc finds the inspiration for his work in the molecular principles that underlie biological systems. [16] What makes particles self-assemble into complex biological structures? [15] Scientists from Moscow State University (MSU) working with an international team of researchers have identified the structure of one of the key regions of telomerase—a so-called "cellular immortality" ribonucleoprotein. [14] Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University used a light-sensitive iridium-palladium catalyst to make "sequential" polymers, using visible light to change how building blocks are combined into polymer chains. [13] Researchers have fused living and non-living cells for the first time in a way that allows them to work together, paving the way for new applications. [12] UZH researchers have discovered a previously unknown way in which proteins interact with one another and cells organize themselves. [11] Dr Martin Sweatman from the University of Edinburgh's School of Engineering has discovered a simple physical principle that might explain how life started on Earth. [10] Nearly 75 years ago, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Erwin Schrödinger wondered if the mysterious world of quantum mechanics played a role in biology.

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